Condor Legion
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The Condor Legion was a unit of Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe, which was sent as volunteers to support the Nationalists under Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
History
The first German aeroplanes arrived in North Africa at the beginning of August 1936 to airlift General Francisco Franco's troops to the Spanish mainland. German military assistance expanded rapidly in the succeeding months; at the beginning of November it was officially amalgamated into the 'Condor Legion'. This consisted of 100 airplanes and 5,000 men under the command of Hugo Sperrle (1885-1953). By rotation of the contingents, a total of approximately 20,000 Germans served in Spain. Despite paying lip service to non-intervention, Adolf Hitler justified this involvement as part of a "fight against Bolshevism."
The Spanish Civil War provided the Germans with the opportunity to test new weapons and tactics - the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter, Heinkel He 111 medium bomber and later, the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber, first saw active service in the Condor Legion. These aircraft played a major role during the early years of the Second World War. The Germans also realized that the days of the biplane fighter were over, the Heinkel He 51 fighter with which the Condor Legion had been equipped initially was switched to a ground attack role and then became a trainer. The Condor Legion also included non-aircraft units. There were panzer crews with Panzerkampfwagen I light tanks (commanded by Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma) and sailors who trained Franco's naval forces. The Germans also tested their 88mm heavy anti-aircraft artillery which they used to destroy Republican tanks, fortifications, and planes.
The bombing of the town of Guernica on 26 April 1937 brought fierce international condemnation, inspiring Pablo Picasso's painting "Guernica", which dramatized suffering of the civilian population. Although not the first town to be attacked, the sheer scale of the destruction (with over 1000 killed and 60% of the houses destroyed) was a clear foretaste of what would happen to many cities during the Second World War.
Various sympathetic writers participated in condemning the scarcely concealed interference of Germany and Italy. An example was Heinrich Mann, who appealed from exile in France with the slogan "German soldiers! A rogue sends you to Spain!" in response to the Legion's involvement.
Two years after Guernica, pilots of the Condor Legion took part in the terror bombing of Wieluń, Poland.
Composition (November 1936)
- Commanding officer: Generalmajor Hugo Sperrle
- S/88: General staff
- J/88: Fighter group with four squadrons of He 51 (48 aircraft)
- K/88: Bomber group with four squadrons of Ju 52 (48 aircraft)
- A/88: Reconnaissance group with four squadrons:
- * three long range reconnaissance squadrons with He 70 (18 aircraft)
- * One short range reconnaissance squadron with He 45 (6 aircraft)
- AS/88: Naval reconnaissance group with four squadrons:
- * One He 59 squadron ( 10 aircraft )
- * One He 60 squadron ( 6 aircraft )
- LN/88: Aerial information battalion with two companies
- F/88: Anti-air battalion with six batteries:
- * Four 88 mm Flak batteries ( 16 pieces )
- * Two 20 mm Flak ( 20 pieces )
- P/88: Two Luftwaffen maintenance companies
People
- Werner Mölders
- Adolf Galland
- Johannes Trautloft
- Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma
- Heinz Trettner
- Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen
- Hajo Herrmann
- Oskar Dirlewanger
- Hugo Sperrle
- Hermann Aldinger
See also
- Spanish Civil War: Basque
- Aerotech: Aerial bombing of cities, Flying ace
- Other: Henschel Hs 129
External links
- [www.dhm.de/] Die Legion Condor
- [www.h-ref.de/] Luftkrieg: Guernica - Die Erprobung der jungen Luftwaffe
- [www.ohne-uns.de/] Von "vollen Erfolgen" und "schuldhaften Verstrickungen" (1997)
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